O Terno's 2019 DIY masterpiece of modern Brazilian pop, atrás/além, is now widely available on vinyl for the first time. The album (which features Devendra Banhart and Shintaro Sakamoto) had it's first limited domestic vinyl pressing evaporate instantly, necessitating this essential Psychic Hotline pressing and an opportunity to introduce O Terno ("The Suit" - they both have three pieces, get it?) to a wider audience with their fourth and finest album atrás/além.
At it's core the band is made up of Tim Bernardes (lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and piano player), Guilherme "Peixe" D'Almeida (bass) and Gabriel "Biel" Basile (drums) though all three play a part in producing, with Bernardes stepping forward to mix this record as well as composing and arranging atrás/além 's orchestral elements. A distinct departure from their previous albums - more sixties pop and less indie and psych rock - atrás/além is the product of the band working in a familiar studio (RISCO) surrounded by a creative community. In the studio, they followed the open-source formula mapped out by The Beatles, The Kinks, Os Mutantes, Harry Nilson and others: write a good song (the hardest part), create a simple, yet elegant arrangement for bass, drums and guitar/piano, adorn the song with complementary instruments and melodies, and record it well, employing studio wizardry selectively and intentionally. As a result, the album sounds both retro in it's analog texture and minimalist production, but contemporary in Bernardes' songwriting and vocal style, which owes as much to Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes) and Grizzly Bear as to Milton Nascimento, Caetano Veloso or John Lennon.